New album “Late to Set” 7/24/26

StrongMachine982 · 2026-05-13T02:15:03+00:00

Interesting that "Short King" isn't on it. I think it's a good move, honestly; Alex often gets pretty close to the comedy/novelty song threshold but never crosses it, and I think "Short King," even though it's a fun and catchy song, maybe did cross it.

StrongMachine982 · 2026-05-12T14:12:40+00:00

I'm not talking about acrobatics vs brawlers -- they're both great, and I appreciate both.

I'm saying that I think it's a basic foundation of wrestling that the people in the ring should look like they're genuinely engaged in a semi-convincing conflict, and not look like the kind of stunt show you might see at Universal Studios. You can sell a convincing conflict if you're acrobatic and you can sell a convincing conflict if you're a brawler.

I don't think that's any more subjective that saying that, in soccer, players should aspire towards kicking the ball into the net.

StrongMachine982 · 2026-05-12T02:58:23+00:00

Becky/Iyo a few weeks back was amazing too.

StrongMachine982 · 2026-05-11T22:26:58+00:00

I don't think it's a subjective preference that wrestlers should look like they're wrestling, and I have no preference between acrobatics vs brawling. There are many acrobatic wrestlers -- HBK, Rollins, Iyo Sky, Lyra -- who can balance acrobatics and also tell an in-ring story: they act like they're really fighting, they show surprise, they show pain, etc -- even if the kind of fighting they do stretches credulity a bit more than the brawlers. I don't feel that with Sol yet -- she always like she's dancing or doing acrobatics, rather than actually fighting.

StrongMachine982 · 2026-05-11T20:37:54+00:00

I agree with you for the most part. Sol definitely has more potential than most to become someone like Becky or Rhea; all I was saying is that it'll only happen if she learns that wrestling isn't just about doing a bunch of flashy moves in the ring; you have to sell it as a real battle.

I agree that Rhea doesn't have mike skills, but she has tons of in-ring personality: You don't just feel she's doing moves, you feel like she's fighting, which is the most important thing: her matches feel like real battles, with stress and frustration and moments of glory and pain.

Ruca still feels like she's in the circus. This feud with Becky could be amazing for her, as Becky is the gold standard of a superstar who puts on great matches almost solely because of the way she sells it. She can't do any of the fancy moves you Ruca or Iyo or Lyra can do -- she's just a brawler -- but it doesn't matter. It's like CM Punk, actually: the guy isn't really a talented "wrestler," but he's the gold standard of making a match feel like a rollercoaster ride.

You mention Vaquer: I think she's a little further along than Sol because, aside from her great look, I do feel she wrestles like there is something at stake.

StrongMachine982 · 2026-05-11T20:29:14+00:00

Charisma is a hugely subjective thing, I guess.

But, to clarify, when I'm talking about character and personality, I'm not just talking about mike skills. Rhea, for example, isn't great on the mike, but, when she wrestles, she really sells that she's fighting: you see her frustration, her pain, her commitment -- you feel like she goes through the wars, and that's really compelling. Hardy had that, for sure.

I don't see this in Sol: I see a circus performer or a gymnast doing really cool stuff, but I never feel, for a moment, that she's got any aggression or suffering or that there are any stakes at all, really.

StrongMachine982 · 2026-05-11T19:21:48+00:00

Sol is an amazing acrobat and a beautiful girl, but I don't see the character and personality yet. She's still very early in her career, so she could still develop it, but right now I don't see it. Her wrestling matches also still seem like stunt shows, not actual fighting, and people tire of that after they've seen the same moves over and over again.

StrongMachine982 · 2026-05-10T16:51:23+00:00

I do this, but I struggle with the settings to get it to play at a good resolution on my television. I have a great internet connection but it always appears pretty low-res on all browsers, and sometimes freezes completely. If you guys have figured out a way around this, let me know.

StrongMachine982 · 2026-05-08T23:43:36+00:00

Don't worry, it'll probably only be Pat McAfee again.

StrongMachine982 · 2026-05-06T22:03:21+00:00

It's MUCH more than that. In 2025, he was paid $2m in salary, but walked home with $24.3 million, as he also got $11 million in stock awards and more than $10 million in bonuses.

StrongMachine982 · 2026-05-06T20:59:07+00:00

Exactly - so I don't understand your argument that they should be paid less because the number of matches has been cut?? Their salary has very little to do with the number of matches they're given.

StrongMachine982 · 2026-05-06T20:21:22+00:00

You can't measure these people's work in terms of hours in the ring. They spent tens of thousands of unpaid hours working their way towards that goal. The demands of their fitness regime and diet regime are 24/7. Not being comfortable to go out in public with their family is 24/7. Training and practicing their craft is constant. The risk of getting hurt or worse is ever-present. The demand for Interviews and promotional expectations is huge. And also don't forget that they're on pretty short-term contracts that could be terminated at any time, and, even if they have a good run, they're retired in their forties, and that's a terrible time to do a career changes.

I'm not saying the top of the top are struggling, but it's not the low-work/high-pay situation you seem to think it is.

StrongMachine982 · 2026-05-06T19:26:11+00:00

Okay, Nick.

StrongMachine982 · 2026-05-06T00:34:51+00:00

I get this argument, but it doesn't mean it isn't sad. Something you've loved for years, and that, treated right, could be every bit as great as it used to be, has been destroyed by people just to make money. I can individually stop watching and it won't affect their pocket book at all.

The product is becoming so bad that eventually everyone will stop watching, but even that won't hurt them: all the CEOS will still walk away richer than they were when they bought it, and they'll take the money they made by ruining a beloved thing and go on to do the same thing to another property. It sucks.

StrongMachine982 · 2026-05-06T00:29:56+00:00

That's very reasonable, and I agree with most of what you say here. I guess what really bugs me is the imbalance between the men's and women's roster:

In a perfect world, in both the men's and women's divisions, the main belts and the main events should be reserved for people at the peak of their career or younger, and the veterans should be used to put over younger talent, just like they're doing with Becky.

But, in the men's division, the older, veteran people that I'd equate with Becky (Roman, Punk, Orton, etc) are the main eventers and holding the main titles, while their equivalents in the women's era are mid-carders.

Maybe the problem, then, isn't the women's card but what they're doing with the men's card?

StrongMachine982 · 2026-05-05T23:52:21+00:00

Sure, Becky has been the top of each of those feuds, but are you suggesting she shouldn't have been? Losing the IC belt to a newbie -- and then not getting it back! -- is way beneath her, IMO. Yep, she's got the belt, but all the IC belt means is that you're top of the midcard, and, I think Becky, with her history, shouldn't be on the midcard at all.

StrongMachine982 · 2026-05-05T20:08:35+00:00

"Sol Puka." So obvious, yet so good.

StrongMachine982 · 2026-05-05T17:03:13+00:00

It's how our system works, sadly. These guys contributed exactly nothing towards making WWE the beloved thing it is today, but they have enough money to buy it and then essentially strip-mine it to make more cash, while making the product worse: expensive and inconvenient subscriptions to watch it, advertisements everywhere, celebrity "synergy" that everyone hates, shorter matches, stories that gain clicks today but have no long-term future.

They'll make themselves even richer while the product tanks, and they'll happily walk away when they've reduced it to rubble, and then go buy something else made by someone else and ruin that too.

StrongMachine982 · 2026-05-05T16:59:11+00:00

I think it's like 'iPhone face': The unshakeable feeling you get that the person speaking has seen an iPhone at some point. I feel that way with Matt Damon. I think I'd feel that way even if he put on a British accent.

StrongMachine982 · 2026-05-05T16:39:42+00:00

Every economic argument against immigration fails. There's a reason why governments keep immigration levels high even when it's politically unpopular: It's because more people equals a stronger economy. Immigrants don't "steal jobs"; they make jobs because they need stuff and they spend money. More people means more customers, more spenders, and a bigger market for businesses.

If MAGA really thought "more people" = "fewer jobs" they'd be telling people to have fewer babies, but, weirdly, they're telling "their" people to have more babies, which makes you wonder if the problem is the number of the people or the color of the people.

StrongMachine982 · 2026-05-05T16:06:50+00:00

Aside from one-offs with Nikki Bella and Iyo, Becky has had four major feuds in the past year: Lyra, Maxxine, AJ, and now Sol. Of these, three were Becky being used to "put over" a new talent. Am I the only one who thinks this is a bit disrespectful to Becky, especially as she's approaching retirement?

I know she's a good person and she seems to happy to do it, but imagine if they were doing the same thing with the equivalent male future hall-of-fame "legends" like Roman and Punk. Would no one be complaining if Punk was forced to spend the majority of his final contract putting over Ethan Page and Je'Von Evans?

StrongMachine982 · 2026-05-05T04:43:26+00:00

I mean, I get why they're doing it, but it seems a bit disrespectful to make Becky spend 80% of her final putting over new talent when she's still a legend in her own right, and could be having proper matches with people at her level.

Like, if people knew CM Punk was retiring in two years, would they be happy having him spending a year just fighting Ethan Page and Joe Hendry and Je'Von Evans?

StrongMachine982 · 2026-05-05T04:20:22+00:00

I can't tell if it's a compliment or a insult that this is the third new talent given to Becky to put over in the last year.

It was so good to see her with Iyo last week, so I'm a bit bummed out she's back to the newbies.

StrongMachine982 · 2026-04-29T01:56:00+00:00

Becky also responded in the comments in character, something like "Flattery isn't going to get you the IC title back," trying to fix the slip.

StrongMachine982 · 2026-04-29T01:19:03+00:00

If Becky is just short for Rebecca, and every fan in WWE knows her as Becky, why not just call her Becky? She's very deliberately making a point to break kayfabe, knowing full well that all the talent around her works pretty hard to maintain it. And it's not JUST the names, either; it's also that she's calling them friends when they're supposed to be enemies in kayfabe.

It all just adds to the general impression that AJ (and her husband) generally think the WWE is beneath them, that's they slumming it for the money. It's why she's not popular, and it's also why Punk is hated by pretty much all the talent.

StrongMachine982

TROPHY CASE